Sneak attack into Singapore harbour

26th September 1943: Australian Special Forces canoe into Singapore harbour and place limpet mines on seven Japanese ships overnight

Artist’s impression of one of the three two-man canoes in Singapore Harbour which was fully lit at the time of the raid.

The Commando attack on shipping in the French port of Bordeaux - Operation Frankton - became well known due to the film 'Cockleshell Heroes'. A very similar attack - Operation Jaywick - by Australia’s ‘Z Special Unit’ (special forces drawn from the Army and Navy) on Japanese ships in Singapore Harbour took place on the night of 26th September.

The 68 ton Kofuku Maru had been seized by British authorities in Singapore following Japan’s entry into the war. In 1943 she was renamed Krait and assigned to the Services Reconnaissance Department. The old sampan renamed Krait was ideal for the raid but was not sea-worthy until August 1943.

The US contribution to the raid was to get the Krait seaworthy. The crew of the U.S. Navy submarine rescue ship USS Chanticleer (ASR-7) worked on the engine and propeller shaft of the decrepit old boat and she eventually covered four thousand miles during the operation. USS Chanticleer in San Francisco Bay, California (USA), on 14 December 1942.